ginnjuice Posted October 21, 2009 at 02:53 AM Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 at 02:53 AM Hello! So I've been attending Beijing Foreign Studies University (北外）for about 7 weeks now, and overall it's been a good experience. I plan to study in China for a year, so I really want to make the most of it and get as much exposure, training, and practice that I can so that I can be as conversationally fluent as possible. However, I only have 16hrs of class/week, which I think is too small of an amount to really improve rapidly. I know a lot of my progress will depend on myself and how I spend my time outside of class, so besides studying the lessons, I use Anki flash cards to build up new vocab and have a language exchange partner that I meet up with almost everyday. But still, I feel like I'm not making the most of my time, and am thinking about supplementing my learning by going to a private school part-time (and maybe full-time during the semester breaks). Lately, I've been doing some research and searching the forums on Private Schools in Beijing (which is a lot!). There was a great thread here http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/17670-language-schools-in-chaoyang-park-lido-cbd-share-information with really helpful information and advice, but it was for schools near the Chaoyang district. I also really want to focus on improving my speaking and listening, since being conversationally fluent is my main goal. So I think going to private school, with a small class size would benefit me greatly. Completing a textbook in a required amount of time is not as important to me as really being able to express myself and have a conversation with people. So to wrap things up, here is what I'm looking for: - a private school in Haidian, preferably close to weigongcun station (where my school is near). I'm willing to go to wudaoko and I know there are a few schools there (That's Mandarin, Sinoland...). - a school that really focuses on speaking and listening, so that I can improve these aspects rapidly. - small class sizes (3-5) or 1:1 attention if cheap enough. - classes that fit my level - I've studied for a year in the states, and am in lower intermediate classes here in BFSU. - a reasonable price, not too expensive, but not deceptively cheap. - flexible hours to accommodate my university schedule. Sorry for the long thread. Any information, advice, tips, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njcheng Posted October 24, 2009 at 01:23 PM Report Share Posted October 24, 2009 at 01:23 PM Hey! I went through a private language program (East-West Connection, http://www.east-westconnection.com) before I started Chinese classes at University. EWC was really good and they offer private lessons. They're at Zhichunlu which isn't too far from you I think, but they also do on-site instruction too. The thing that makes me think that it's a good fit for you is that their signature One-Month Mandarin program is very focused on communicating verbally with people and not on memorization of a ton of characters. Also, my teacher was simply amazing. Hope that helps! -NC PS: In full disclosure, I enjoyed the program so much I just re-did their website... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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